SLB (NYSE:SLB) Reaches New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Shares of SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $54.85 and last traded at $54.7110, with a volume of 3161339 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $52.77.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on SLB shares. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on SLB from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Evercore set a $54.00 target price on SLB and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Bank of America boosted their price target on SLB from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on SLB from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on SLB from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, SLB presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.27.

SLB Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $50.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $43.35. The stock has a market cap of $81.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.95, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.69.

SLB (NYSE:SLB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 23rd. The oil and gas company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $9.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.54 billion. SLB had a return on equity of 17.45% and a net margin of 9.45%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.92 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that SLB Limited will post 2.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLB Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 11th were given a dividend of $0.295 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 11th. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. This is a boost from SLB’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. SLB’s payout ratio is currently 49.79%.

Insider Transactions at SLB

In other SLB news, Director La Chevardiere Patrick De sold 4,000 shares of SLB stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.29, for a total value of $201,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 19,525 shares in the company, valued at $981,912.25. The trade was a 17.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Howard Guild sold 13,268 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.70, for a total value of $659,419.60. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 22,407 shares in the company, valued at $1,113,627.90. The trade was a 37.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 156,902 shares of company stock valued at $7,796,666 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of SLB

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Synergy Asset Management LLC increased its stake in SLB by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC now owns 80,830 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,732,000 after buying an additional 40,415 shares during the period. Americana Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of SLB by 10.1% during the third quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 248,057 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $8,526,000 after acquiring an additional 22,706 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its holdings in SLB by 13.8% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 210,056 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $7,220,000 after purchasing an additional 25,417 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in SLB by 4.9% during the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,157,885 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $72,354,000 after purchasing an additional 100,918 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its position in SLB by 1,937.4% in the third quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 996,948 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $34,265,000 after purchasing an additional 948,015 shares during the period. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

SLB Company Profile

SLB (NYSE: SLB), historically known as Schlumberger, is a leading global provider of technology, integrated project management and information solutions for the energy industry. Founded by Conrad and Marcel Schlumberger in 1926, the company develops and supplies products and services used across the exploration, drilling, completion and production phases of oil and gas development. Its offerings are intended to help operators characterize reservoirs, drill and complete wells, optimize production and manage field operations throughout the asset lifecycle.

SLB’s product and service portfolio spans reservoir characterization and well testing, wireline and logging services, directional drilling and drilling tools, well construction and completion technologies, production systems, and subsea equipment.